Getting to Know Her Friends

Glad you could join us for the next cordial episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Relegating her new worry about Cassandra’s safety to her trust in King Arnie, Queen Lilian faced her duty to interview the Alliance leaders she had requested to visit her. Too many lives depended on their secret plans for her to trust Fen’s fate to leaders she didn’t know.

“Commander Torlex of The Arids’ Rebel Army, Sirehta of the Viper Brotherhood, I invited you here to share your plans so that we may coordinate our strategies.”

Chuckling deep in his throat, rain dripping from his protruding chin, and his eyes thoroughly bloodshot from lack of sleep, Commander Torlex turned to Sirehta. “It was your brilliant idea, I think you deserve the honor of sharing it with the Queen.”

Sirehta bowed his head low before her Magnificence. “My brothers and I recruited those who felt they could not fight, to help in other ways. Quiet ways. Those who hide in plain sight searched out the places the enemy kept their prisoners. Diggers bored tunnels from safety, to open near the prisons. Others disguised the entrances, and many stand by to destroy them when the time comes.”

Nodding, she asked, “How will you extract the prisoners?”

“It is already done,” Sirehta answered. “My brothers and I led the strikes removing the guards and escorting the citizens to the tunnels.”

“Truly? The General holds no more prisoners of war?”

“The beauty of it is that he doesn’t know that yet,” chortled the Commander. “And we’ve evacuated the northern and eastern thirds of Fen, so as long as we can keep the enemy closer to the border than that, he won’t grab anyone else.”

The Queen was not amused. “Prince Elliot needs this information. When will you destroy the tunnels?”

“Oh, we have another plan for that,” Commander Torlex assured her.

Queen Lilian’s patience was straining to tolerate the Commander’s jolly manner. “Perhaps you’d better share that one with me, too.”

To be continued. . .

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